With the development of the computer network, computer users now have access to vast amounts of data beyond that which may be stored on a floppy disk or a hard drive of a user's personal computer (PC). For example, small businesses now use Local Area Networks (LANs) to allow networked users to access data not only on their PCs but also on the PCs of other network users. Additionally, LANs provide network users with access to data on server computers that provide services to other computers and users on a network.
Internetworks may connect multiple LANs, thereby increasing the data available to users. Larger still are Wide Area Networks (WANs) and Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), the latter of which is designed to cover large cities. The largest such network, commonly known as the Internet, has introduced vast amounts of information into the business place and home. The individual networks that make up the Internet include networks that may be served from sources such as commercial servers, university servers, research and other networks of computers, and military networks.
Dramatic growth in accessibility to data, however, was accompanied by a number of difficulties. For example, users on the Internet initially experienced logistical problems when searching and recovering information on a particular topic. Users had to know precisely where in the network to find sought-after information, access the server with that information, and use cryptic commands to recover the information.
The implementation of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) increased the usability of the Internet or, more specifically, its subset called the World Wide Web, by enabling a user to navigate through documents (sometimes called “web pages”) using software called “browsers” or “web browsers,” such as, Navigator from Netscape Corp. and Internet Explorer from Microsoft Corp. A hypertext link appears as a word, phrase or image in a web page provided by a server. Using the browser software, a user is able to click on (and thereby select) a hypertext link and, in theory, be transferred to another information server, which may be remote from the server the provided the web page with the originating hypertext link. In actuality, however, the browser construes the selection of a link as a new request to retrieve data such as a web page from anoter server and uses an address associated with the link to access that server and complete the request. Through the use of many such hypertext links, sites with similar content can be cross-referenced, allowing a user access to supplemental information that is distributed across the Internet.
Information access on the Internet has been made even easier by numerous companies providing information search services such as Google and Yahoo, both of which provide “engines” to search the Internet. These companies provide users access to servers with an index of the contents of large numbers of web pages, either the page's full text or summaries. They allow users to interface with the index by enabling the users to input queries to the search engines and by providing users with the results. The results may include web pages with hypertext links that, when selected, enable the users to access the original indexed pages.
Search engines may be characterized as software, including computer executable instructions, that, when executed by a computer, allows a user to remotely perform searches on the Internet. The searches may cover any indexed data such as the titles of documents, Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), summaries, or full text. Usually, information service providers build indices, or databases, of web page contents through automated algorithms. These algorithms are commonly referred to as “Spyders.” Generally, the results or “hits” of the search are presented to the user with hypertext links allowing the user to pick and choose the desired results and then transfer to a particular site associated with the selected search results in order to retrieve the desired information on the web pages therein.
A “metasearch” engine provides a user interface such as a web page with access to multiple search engines. The metasearch engine receives a user's search query, and parses and reformats the query. The resulting queries are then forwarded to the search engines with each search engine receiving a query in accordance with the format for that search engine. After retrieving the results from the individual search engines, the metasearch engine presents them to the user in another web page. These metasearch engines simplify searching by eliminating the need for users to formulate and submit individual queries to each of the search engines. Infospace, Inc. currently provides a metasearch engine known as “metacrawler.” Metacrawler currently interfaces with the following search engines: “Google,” “Yahoo,” “Ask Jeeves,” “About,” “FindWhat,” and “LookSmart.”
Current metasearch engines therefore provide an interface to several search engines. They enable users to search a larger portion of the Internet through use of several search engine indices. Conventional metasearch engines, however, are limited by the functionality of the engines for which they provide an interface.
Although some search engines may from time to time extend their functionality, they do not do so by integrating their engines with search functionality provided by another, external source using an automated technique for extending search functionality of search engines. Similarly, although metacrawlers aggregate the functionality of multiple search engines, they do not do so by integrating their engines with search functionality provided by another, external source using an automated technique for extending search functionality of search engines.